SC order dilutes Doordarshan presence in DTH, cable space

In the euphoria surrounding the landmark triple talaq verdict of the Supreme Court, another apex court judgement has gone largely unnoticed. On Tuesday, a two-judge bench upheld the Delhi High Court's 2015 ruling that could seriously diminish the aura of Doordarshan in the `live' space. The verdict considerably dilutes the must-share obligation of private broadcasters who are forced to share sports content of `national importance.' Star, rights-holders of India (bilateral) as well as World Cup matches, is the immediate gainer of the ruling which will prevent Doordarshan from beaming live matches on Pay TV (cable and Direct To Home) platforms and allow it to show them only on its terrestrial network. Going forward, the beneficiaries of the verdict could also be Sony, which has a large presence in sports broadcasting in India and Nimbus, which was one of the original petitioners.

“The must-share obligation of my client is subject to restraints upon DD to carry signals only on its terrestrial and its own DTH platform.Under the guise of `must carry' it was depriving my client of legitimate revenues and giving a free ride to competing DTH and cable operators,“ P Chidambaram, who represented Star in the case, told Mirror. “It is a huge decision by the Supreme Court and we have been at the wrong end of the stick during the time we held India rights. We will study the judgement and see if we can seek damages,“ Harish Thawani, the MD of Neo Sports, told this paper.

The situation arose due to two conflicting laws. The Sports Act mandates private broadcasters to share the live feed of matches of national importance with DD. The Cable Television Networks Act states that every DTH platform ­ like Dish TV, Tata Sky, Airtel, Videocon ­ and cable network must have DD in their packages.

As important games would be available freely on DD, the DTH and cable operators had an upper hand in their subscription deals with rights holders. Star has reportedly claimed that it had lost close to Rs 1000 crore in the form of subscription.

DD officials were not immediately available for comment but there are a few suggestions on how to implement the verdict. “DD will have to encrypt a terrestrial channel. DD may also offer to its DTH customers with DD's set-top boxes,“ said Chidambaram, himself a former central government minister.

Thawani said the best possible way can be to show matches on DD's regional channels. “DD can broadcast it on its regional channels, which are all free-to-air and have presence in every state. It will prevent duplication of content on Pay TV platforms.“